We’re obviously big Roger Corman fans here at HorrorsNotDead, and, even though we can’t personally party with the legendary filmmaker on his birthday (April 5), we can still celebrate with him from miles away in Austin, Texas! Thanks to Tugg.com, we’ll be hosting a special birthday screening of his 1961 Vincent Price classic THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM. This was the second Edgar Allen Poe film from Corman, a series that eventually came to represent his peak as a director. Each of the Corman/Poe/Price team-ups are expertly paced, visually exciting, and full of genuine menace and thrills, so we can practically guarantee you’ll have a great time.

The mysterious passing of a nobleman’s wife is placed under scrutiny by her suspicious brother-in-law. As he investigates her death, he uncovers the castle’s secret past as a place of torture during the Spanish Inquisition and its lingering influence on those who live between its walls. The film stars Vincent Price, Barbara Steele, John Kerr, and Luane Anders.

This rare opportunity to see a Corman classic on the big screen will take place at Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar on Thursday, April 5 at 9:45pm. Tickets are available here. As with all Tugg events, the screening doesn’t happen until their minimum attendance is met, so please spread the word on the screening to anyone and everyone you know, and we hope to see you on April 5!

After starting in Washington D.C. nine years ago Horror Movie Night has expanded to include chapters in Austin, Dallas and Chicago. Horror’s Not Dead’s own Brian Kelley is the originator and programmer of this illustrious weekly Wednesday night tradition which features a “classic” horror film. Each week I will be reviewing/commenting on the past week’s selection so do your best to find the film, most of which have not made it past VHS, and follow along. Better yet, start your own chapter!

If only there were a masturbating ghost…

Don’t worry, I’ll explain in a bit. This week we trekked all the way back to the late 70s for a Roger Corman distributed bit of haunted house creepiness. Unfortunately, Gus Trikonis’ 1978 film The Evil is nothing all that special. There is a ghost on the loose in a huge, strange mansion with some co-eds, but save for the outstanding fashion stylings of the characters and a jaw-dropping ending, this really isn’t too interesting.

From John–“Is this Roger Corman’s best film? Possibly. I gave this one to Jacob Hall because it’s still fresh on my mind after seeing it a few months ago on Netflix. MASQUE is genuinely perverse, sinister, and colorful, and stands out as the richest of Corman’s cheapies, a little closer in tone to Hammer Films than American International Pictures was typically known for. Time has sort of unfairly lumped it in with all of Corman’s Poe films; I think it stands out as a great horror film. My hope is that Jacob will think so too.”

Did you know that Roger Corman could actually direct? I’m not talking about a some unintentionally funny B-movie piece of junk, I’m talking about an intentionally interesting, creepy B-movie slice of awesome. The Corman name may be synonymous with schlock — and let’s face it, the man deserves it, mainly because he produced a whole bunch of worthless junk because it made him a whole bunch of money — but when he actually got behind the camera and had a decent script in his hand, he was capable of producing some damn fine schlock, schlock so good that it stops being schlock and starts being, I dunno, good schlock. His The Wasp Woman is one of the more character-driven “human becomes a monster” B-movies of the 1950s and his X: The Man With X-Ray Eyes is a legitimately fascinating science fiction film. Better than both of those is his adaptation of a classic Edgar Allan Poe story, The Masque of the Red Death, which manages to effectively Hollywood-ize the original story (Poe’s work is so internal that you’ve got to take some liberties) while capturing what makes the story work in the first place.

From Brian Kelley–“I have been running a horror movie night for almost 10 years now. Back in the mid-2000s I would review each film the day after Horror Movie Night on my MySpace blog. Recently, while going through this blog, I came across a rave review of the b-movie mess CARNOSAUR 3. As such, I thought it would be perfect to get another human being’s perspective after all these years. According to my notes, we watched this at HMN before watching the first two in the series so even if Damon has not seen them it shouldn’t make a lick of difference.”

Studio News and Attachments

FRANKENWEENIE – Tim Burton’s feature length adaptation of his re-animated dog short will be his feature film followup to ALICE IN WONDERLAND.

TROLLHUNTERS – Guillermo del Toro will be teaming up with Disney for more mature/thrilling animated fare under the banner Double Dare You. The first of these films will be TROLLHUNTERS, produced by del Toro and based on his own story.

MOURNING AFTER – Remember when one of the key players in creating Lionsgate’s genre friendly identity created his own company, A BIGGER BOAT. Well their next co-production will be about a “woman with a timeless, deadly secret.” Real daring material there, guys.

JEEPERS CREEPERS 3 – Victor Salva still wants to make it, but it seems people are only just now feeling confident enough to consider investing money…so, don’t expect JEEPERS CREEPERS 3: CATHEDRAL any time soon.

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